Self-opening seal



Nciv. E, 1923. 11,473,252

RAMSEY SELF OPENING SEAL Filed Jan. 17 1922 Patented Nov. 6, i923.

outrun stares PATENT @IFFECE.

GEORGE SEY, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIQNOR TO ANCHOR CA1? & CLOSURE CORPORATION, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW roan.

SELF-OPENING:- SEAL.

Application filed January 17, 1922. Serial No. 529,931.

closures for vessels or receptacles such asbottles and the like, and more particularly to a form of closure wherein a stopper isv retained on a vessel. by engagement of flexible portions of the former against a portion of the vessel wall or a suitable beador retaining ledge provided on the latter.

A general object of the invention is the provision of a closure of this tpye which may be manufactured and applied with ease and at low cost, which will form an effective closure for the vessel, and which may be removed, when desired, without necessitating the use of any special tool or appliance.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a closure designed for reten; tion on a vessel by means of a bead provided on the latter, and which closure includes means whereby the bead engaging portion may be displaced by straightening the extension of an associated part of the closure, to permit its removal from the vessel.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a closure which may be eifectively seated on a suitable vessel by a simple and quick machine operation, and which may be removed from the vessel by hand, as by tapping or otherwise displacing an extensible portion of the closure to dislodge its retaining portions, without subjecting the contents of the package to liability of spilling or pollution.

Another object is the provision of a closure having characteristics as specified above, and which is efiective to constitute an hermetic seal.

A further object is the provision of a closure having the characteristics above specified, and which may be used as an effective cover for the vessel after its removal in the first instance.

(dther and further objects of the invention will be pointed out or indicated in the following description, or will be obvious therefrom or from the drawing forming a part of the specification. y

In the packaging of various extensively used commodities, for example, catsup, fruit juices, and the like, such commodities must be hermetically sealed and usually provision is made to cover the mouth of the container when the seal is broken. Various types of closures are in common use and one type is that in which an ordinary stopper or cork is seated in the mouth of the vessel, and an accessory closure in the nature of a screw cap being supplied for use after the vessel has been unstoppered in the first instance. Another type is the familiar closure commercially known as the Crown cap. Closures heretofore used for this purpose .have in each case required the use of some implement such as a cork screw or bottle opener in order to open the package safely, Without subjecting the contents to liability of spilling. The present invention retains the desirable features of the closures heretofore employed commercially, and supplies the additional feature of enabling the safe removal of the closure without the use of any special instrument, and without injury to the contents of the vessel.

Described generally, the invention contemplates the provision of a vessel having a cap sustaining portion, which may comprise a bead or retaining ledge at its mouth, and a portion of the vessel wall' forming an abutment below and spaced apart from the retaining bead. A cap of a ductile resilient material is designed to be seated over the mouth of a vessel in such fashion that a porwith is an extensible member of ductile ma-' terial of suitable width to extend from the margin of the cap, when it is retained on the vessel mouth, to the abutment or shoulder below the latter. This extensible member preferably is of annular form so that it encompasses the vessel wall between the bead and the abutment, and in the preferred form it is convexed or bowed outwardly in transverse section so that between its upper and lower margins it stands away from the wall of the vessel. At its lowermargin it may be, where necessary, retained against spreading by a constraining portion, which may be in the nature of a rolled wire bead of a proper circumference to closely engage the wall of the vessel at the unction of the abutment. The construction is such that the flattening or inward displacement of the material in the convex portion of the extensible member, being effective to increase the linear distance between its upper and lowor limits, will operate to force the portions of the cap retained against the under surface of the bead over the same, the abutment preventing downward displacement of the lower margin of the extensible member. Anchorage of the cap upon the vessel being thus displaced, the cap may be removed.

The device comprising the present invention may also be used as a dress for finishing. bottle type packages such as catsup bottles, etc. In this use the interior gasket is omitted and the seal is formed by a separate member such as a cork stopper or metal cap such as is common in the art for such purposes.

In the accompanying drawings is shown, for the purpose of illustration, one form in which the invention ma be embodied, but it is to be understood t at this form does not'exhaust the range of structural variations and modifications in which the invention may be incorporated.

In said drawings Figure 1 represents a perspective view of one form of the invention.

Figure 2 represents a sectional view of the closure on a vessel.

Figure 3 represents a similarsection showing the relationship of parts when the seal has been displaced and the cap is free and Figure 4 represents a similar section of a modified form.

Figure 5 shows a short skirt cap in use with a cork stopper.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1t Wlll be understood that reference character 1 designates the vessel, having adjacent its mouth a suitable cap receiving portion, here illustrated as an annular bead or ledge 2 having a slopin under face. At a sultable distance below t e bead 2 the vessel 18 provided with an outstanding abutment, here shown as a collar or shoulder 4, presenting a substantially fiat upper surface lying sublatter so that at the juncture therewith it is preferably'slightly larger than the circumference of the perimeter of the bead 2. The seal includes a cap portion 5 which may carry a sealin disc 6 adapted to fit over the mouth of tie vessel, and a. retaining portion 7 adapted to engage under and against the lower reentrant face of the bead 2, whereby the cap is retained securely in position on the vessel with the sealing disc 6 forming an hermetic seal thereon. Obviously, the retaining portion 7 may be formed as indentations, after the fashion of the familiar Crown cap or may constitute a substantially continuous annular groove in which the inwardly displaced material of the cap is brought in under the bead 2.

Associated with the cap 5 is an extensible portion 8. This may be formed integral with the cap as shown in Figure 2, or as a separate member as shown in Figure 4, and is made of suitable stiff ductile material, such as sheet metal. This part may also be seamed as indicated at 9 in Figure 1. Preferably it is annular so as to encompass the vessel, and its actual width is greater form by a substantially non-extensible constraining member 10, here shown asa rolled Wire bead and this constraining member 1s of sufiicient size to pass over the head and on the retaining ledge 2. The vessel thus sealed is suitable for commercial handling. When it is desired to open the vessel, the outwardly bowed portion of the extensible member 8 is displaced inwardly, as may be accomplished by rolling it against a hard surface or by driving the material inwardly by tapping it. The efiect of this inward displacement of the material of the extensible member operates after the fashion of the straightening of a toggle to extend its upper portion toward the mouth of the vessel, which has the effect of displacing the engaging portions 7 of the cap from their effective position on the bead 2, the

movement downwardly, while the gatheredv metal in the part constructed below the bead permits its distending to sufiicient size to pass over the latter. The retaining portions 5 of the cap being thus displaced from below the bead 2 the cap may be read-' ily lifted ofi'. By slightly flattening or distorting the constraining member 10 from its original form, the cap, when replaced on the vessel, will be retained by the resiliency of the material, so as to form an eflective protecting cover for the vessel month.

In the form shown in Figures 1 and 4c, the cap 5 and extensible member 8 are formed separately. The latter may be seated on the vessel first, or it may be made a part of the cap and applied therewith, with its upper portion extending up the lower face of the head 2, and the cap being seated over said portion. Otherwise, the structure and operation of this form isthe same as of that shown in Figure 2.

In Figure 5 the skirt of the cap is shown as being short and the seal as being formed by a cork stopper 11. In this form the cap is largely a dress member which is securely held in position to protect the end of the container until the seal is broken and at which time it forms a temporary loose cap to cover the container until the contents are used. Y I

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the embodiment of my invention constitutes a very simple ,and economical closure which may be easily and cheaply applied to the vessel in the first instance, forms a secure and hermetic seal, may be readily removed from the vessel, when desired, by hand without the employment of any special implement and susceptible as to reuse as a protective cover after the seal has been broken.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A closure cap comprising a retaining portion, and means depending from the re taining portion for rendering the retaining portion inefi'ective without destructive effort on the cap.

2. A closure cap comprising a sealing gasket, a retaining portion, and annular deformablemeans for rendering the retaining portion inefiective without destructive ef fort on the cap.

3. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt provided witha retaining portion for holding said cap in position upon a suitable container and a preformed por- 4. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt provided with a retaining portion for holding said cap in position upon a suitable container and annular means adapted to be deformed to render said retaining portion inoperative.

5. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt comprising a preformed wall adapted to be deformed and thereby to remove the cap from sealing position.

6. A closure cap comprising a cover por tion, a depending skirt comprising a partly collapsed wall adapted to be extended and. thereby to remove the cap from sealing position.

7. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt provided with an outstanding portion constructed to be restricted in diameter and force the cap from sealed position.

8. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt provided with an outstanding large beaded portion constructed to be flattened and force the cap from sealed position.

9. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt with the metal thereof deformed in such manner as to shorten the length of the skirt and adapted to be flattened and thereby lengthen said skirt to assist in removing said cap from a suitable container.

10. A closure cap comprising a cover portion, a skirt with the metal thereof distorted in such manner as to shorten the length of the skirt and adapted to be straightened and thereby lengthen said skirt to assist in removin said cap from a suitable container.

11. s an article of manufacture, a sealed package comprising a container having a sealing zone adjacent the mouth thereof, an abut-ment below said sealing zone, in combination with a closure cap adapted to be seated on said sealing portion and having a deformable skirt adapted to contact with said abutment whereby flattening of said skirt tends to remove said cap from said sealing zone.

12. As an article of manufacture, a sealed package comprising a container having a sealing zone adjacent the mouth thereof, an

abutment below said sealing zone, in combination with a closure cap adapted to be seated on said sealing portion and having a beaded skirt with the lower edge thereof adapted to contact with said abutment whereby fiatteningof the said skirt tends to remove said cap from said sealingzone.

13. As an article of manufacture, a sealed package comprising a container having a sealing zone adjacent the mouth thereof, an

abutment below said sealing zone, in combination with a closure cap adapted to be seated on said sealing portion and having a deformable skirt adapted to contact with said abut- 5 ment whereby flattening of said skirt tends to act as a toggle to lengthen and thereby remove said cap from said sealing zone.

14. As an article of maniifacture, a sealed package comprising a container having a sealing zone adjacent the mouth thereof, an 10 abutment below said sealing zone, in combination with a closure. cap adapted to be seated on said sealing portion and presaid sealing zone.

GEORGE RAMSEY. 

